If you know where you stand today, you will also know where you want to be in the future.

How aware are you of what is going on around you? What is the impact of everything you do – or don’t do? How do you respond to social change? And how do you prevent ingrained habits from hampering the flexibility of your organisation? In short: Is your performance in line with the standards imposed on and expected of your organisation, or are you lagging behind? MonkeyBlue helps organisations to be more aware of what is going on in the world around them and to act accordingly, with a stronger Reputation and a higher License to Operate as the result.

_TheContextIndicator®: impact through insight.

The core of MonkeyBlue’s offering of services is TheContextIndicator®. This study provides insight into the field of forces within which an organisation operates, and how skilful it is in responding to this. It helps you identify an organisation’s cultural bottlenecks and capacity for change at a single glance, with a view to restoring and strengthening its connection to the world around it.

Using TheContextIndicator®, an organisation will be able to draw up a plan for improvement with surgical precision. Flexibly. Because the world is constantly changing. Faster than ever. In hardly any time at all we can get to the crux of the matter. We do not pour our recommendations in concrete but in rubber, constantly keeping our finger on the pulse. This approach enables an organisation to constantly and easily keep up with new developments.

If you fail to keep up with the changing world, you will stand still.

Let it be clear: organisations willing to reinvent themselves have the right tools at their disposal for a strong future. As a flywheel for this, MonkeyBlue developed The Context Indicator®. This research indicates how adroitly and capably you can respond to your surrounding environment and whether the importance you attach to your values as an organisation and management team is shared by your employees, customers and stakeholders. You will then be able to set to work with surgical precision towards building a more relevant organisation with greater impact.

Our survey tool, TheContextIndicator®, is based on validated scientific research.

_How does it work?

Via a personalised link, we invite your employees or in your team or organisation to anonymously fill out TheContextIndicator® survey. This way, we can be absolutely sure that we are making use of all the available information. In the next step, we check to see if your employees’ perception mirrors that of your customers and stakeholders.

This approach enables us to quickly compile a clear and practical report, based on which we can jointly set to work on an improvement plan. After all: if you want to be versatile, you have to be able to take action quickly!

Looking in the mirror, you are unable to look at yourself as perceived by others.

Holding a mirror to someone else is easy. However, to get the full picture, you have to look at everything happening in the background as well. This will help you understand how people respond to your organisation’s actions. On which aspects do you act strongly and what can be improved to enable you, as an organisation, to act and continue to act in an interactive and high-impact manner?

_TheContextFactor® ranks your contextual intelligence on a scale from 80 to 140.

TheContextFactor® is built up out of 3 main categories: Commitment, Field of Influence and Competencies, and 17 subcategories derived from these. We also attach a rating in terms of your License to Operate: a definition of your organisation’s right to exist, and it will become clear to which extent your organisation thinks and works in an Agile manner.

TheContextFactor® will reveal, per category, whether your rating is Fragmented, Structured, Integrated or Optimised. This will give you a clear picture of your organisation’s strengths and its cultural limitations and capacities for change. Based on this, your organisation will be able to determine a clear change process, without any need for tedious, lengthy procedures.

It is much easier to get things going if you listen to everyone.

You will be able to make a lot more progress if you understand what is going on around you. We will use the results of The Context Indicator® to open up the discussion. With all parties involved. Not only with the yes-men and the stakeholders, but also with people who are hesitant or critical, and with the builders and the born innovators. This way, we can get the ball rolling and put our energy into attaining solutions. Our vehicle for this is what we call ContextSessions.

_ContextSessions. A blueprint that addresses both the negative and positive aspects.

TheContextFactor® is the guideline for our approach to achieving improvement. During a series of Context Sessions we will set to work together with your team or organisation.

Our expertise in this lies in breaking destructive habits, harmonising your corporate culture and achieving behavioural changes, learning new skills through team-based and personal development and translating these to your organisation’s policy and operations.

The results: your purpose will become clear, your strategy better defined and your contact with the surrounding environment improved. While you are working, The Context Factor® will take your organisation to a higher level.

_Methods.

Although we sometimes make active use of interventions and methods, we can also choose to apply them at a more subconscious level. After all, the results we achieve for your organisation are what is important, and not the method used.

From Reputation to License to Operate.

_Who you are must be in line with what you say and what is expected of you.

Thanks to our experience and background, we know how important it is that the perceptions held by customers and stakeholders reflect the identity of your organisation and the goals you have set. Being transparent in your policy and operations proves that you are trustworthy.

We hold a mirror to this and develop strategies to bring your organisation’s performance and communication in line with the demands and expectations of the outside world.

_From ‘tell me, trust me’ to ‘proof me’.

A rapidly changing environment demands a high level of adaptability from organisations. This, in turn, requires a corporate culture that embraces these changes, taking its connection with its surrounding environment as a point of departure. We assist organisations in this by providing insight into the impact of its current corporate culture on the way it is perceived by the outside world.

_We can assist you assist you in the following:

A crisis in terms of identity or confidence

Consultation for cultural or behavioural changes

Acting as a sounding board with regard to topics that impact the way an organisation acts when faced with sensitive issues

The question is not when you will be engaging us.

_The question is why you are engaging us.

You thought you were talking to the right people. However, you are surprised by negative response to your organisation. What is the matter?

You have the impression that confidence in your organisation is waning. How will you be able to identify the bottlenecks?

You are noticing that your target audiences are more frequently engaging the services of your competitors. What can we do about this?

You have the impression that problems are not always resolved adequately. Ultimately, this costs more money than it brings in. What should we do differently?

You believe that contributing added value to your surrounding environment will also translate into profits for you. But what precisely does your organisation do in terms of added value, and how can you communicate this in a clear manner?

You have noticed that your mission, vision and strategy could use an update. How can you better coordinate this to your surrounding environment and how can you involve your employees in this?

You want to make the best possible use of your Supervisory Board. How can you provide them adequate insight into the context of your organisation in such a way that they will be spurred to ask other questions?

You want your divisions to better succeed in bringing the outside world into your organisation.
How can you achieve this?

Organisations with a higher purpose score higher.

A recent study conducted by Harvard revealed that 61% of organisations do not or do not work sufficiently towards a higher purpose (the significance behind your goal). This is even more important because almost 90% of CEOs indicate that a clearly formulated goal has a positive impact on the performance of an organisation. Working on the ‘purpose’ of an organisation is a powerful and underestimated instrument.

Therefore, make sure that you formulate your goal clearly, check it for relevance and sharpen it if this is demanded by your surrounding environment. According to MonkeyBlue, an organisation will become more successful if your social responsibility, your role in society and your contribution to society are included in your purpose. We will be happy to help you achieve this.

Research: The business case for purpose – Harvard Financial Times – 24 January 2016, ‘Companies with a purpose beyond profit tend to make more money’

If you are confident, you are at your most beautiful.

The moment a mandrill ape becomes the leader of his group, his colour changes. Blue and red. Beautiful.

As an organisation, you can also be a leader or want to become – and remain – one. If this is your ambition, it is crucial that you act in the right way, gaining respect in a natural way among your peers. Being valued. So that you are important. And can continue to show yourself to the outside world in your most beautiful colours. That is the basic principle behind MonkeyBlue. And that is what we are dedicated to achieving.

Hello, I am Nanda Stouthamer

‘I am a manager through and through: I always place things in their context. Doing this helps you see the bigger picture and understand how the system of a particular organisation or branch of industry works. It helps you to identify non-functional habits that are worth breaking. It lets you stand in the other party’s shoes and to better understand what is demanded of you. Plus, you can examine your own context and identify opportunities.’

_If you do what you did, you will get what you got.

Interim manager, head of communication, strategic advisor and coach for the corporate world (Rabobank, Nuon, PostNL) and for public sector organisations (EBN, Alliander, the Municipality of The Hague). Specialised in issues at the interface of mission, strategy, change management and reputation. In my work, I am regularly faced with sensitive issues. I have an eye for developing talent and focus on results and relationships. I can remain steadfast and serene in times of crisis and have a passion for strengthening the power of organisations.

... and I am Maurits de Koning

‘My vision is that if organisations focus on achieving a clear goal and make a contribution to society based on a vision and a sincere motive, their performance will improve naturally. I enter into the dialogue in a facilitating manner on how this can be achieved. I challenge my clients, hold a mirror to them and inspire. With the goal of setting new steps toward a better result. If you serve multiple interests, you will gain more, in the broadest sense of the word. Dare to step out of your own world and take a close look at how your organisation is functioning, from the outside looking in. Are you living up to others’ expectations?

_One good turn deserves another.

My career started in communications. First at international advertising agencies, and later on as an interim manager. My specialist area in these jobs is to formulate the positioning of organisation and translating this into innovative concepts. In 2001 I established Conformation: an agency for the recruitment of interim communication professionals. I instil confidence in people and teams and put them in an environment where they can and want to make a genuine contribution. I love people who dare to look at themselves with a critical eye and take up the proverbial gauntlet.